If you are looking for free Email clients for Linux and Windows – here are 5 of them we list that you can try and consider for casual or professional uses.
Web-based email is popular today and can be accessed via browsers or mobile apps. However, in big and medium enterprises, generic users still prefer native desktop email clients for heavy and office uses. Microsoft Outlook is the most popular desktop email client, which is, of course, not free, and you have to pay a considerable licence fee to use it.
There are multiple options for free desktop email clients available. Here are the best five free and open-source email clients you can try and then deploy for your needs.
Table of Contents
Quick Snapshot
Here is a quick glimpse of 5 email desktop clients before you read the features and choose yourself.
| Best Email Client Programs | Price | Platforms | Snap | Flatpak |
| Thunderbird | FREE | Linux, Mac and Windows | Yes | Yes |
| Evolution | FREE | Linux | No | Yes |
| Geary | FREE | Linux | No | Yes |
| Claws Mail | FREE | Linux, Mac and Windows | Yes | No |
| SeaMonkey | FREE | Linux, Mac and Windows | No | No |
5 Best Free Email Clients for Linux
1. Thunderbird
Mozilla Foundation developed Thunderbird is the best free, open-source, cross-platform email client available today. It comes with email, chat support, an RSS reader and other features.
A quick summary of Thunderbird’s features:
Features of Thunderbird
- Email with POP, IMAP, and LDAP support
- Fast Search, Saved Search
- Spam filtering
- Security support via TLS/SSL connection to mail servers
- Secure email support via S/MIME
- Calendar Support via Lightning extension – Can integrate Google Calendar
- Microsoft Exchange Server integration with Paid extensions Owl
- HTML support in emails
- Desktop Notification
- Feature addition via Extensions
- Theme Support
- Multiple Language support
How to Download
You can download Thunderbird from the official page.
2. Evolution
Evolution, the GNOME project, combines email, address book, calendar, and task manager features. Evolution is free and open-source software available for Linux systems.
Here are some of its features:
Features of Evolution
- POP, IMAP and SMTP Support
- Secure network connection with SSL, TLS
- Automatic spam filtering
- Advanced email Search
- Exchange server support using plug-ins
- Calendar support using Google Calendar and iCalendar
- Contact management with local address books and Google address books
How to Download and install
In Ubuntu-based Linux systems, you can install Evolution from the below commands from the terminal. Or from Software. Run the below commands from the terminal to install Evolution in Ubuntu-based systems:
sudo apt install evolution evolution-ews
Note: evolution-ews is required to connect to Microsoft Exchange.
3. Geary
Geary is a free and open-source email client for Linux. Written in Vala with WebKitGtk, Geary differs from other desktop email clients.
Features of Geary
- Conversation View for emails
- Supports IMAP servers – GMAIL, Yahoo! Mail, Outlook.com
- Send as another identity
- HTML Support in an email
- Search with options
- Desktop notifications
How to Download
Geary is available for Linux only. For Ubuntu-based systems, search ‘geary’ in software and click install. You can also install via the command line using the below commands in Ubuntu-based systems.
sudo apt install geary
4. Claws Mail
Claws Mail is a free, open-source GTK+-based email client with easy configuration and many features. It supports and stores email in MH mailbox format. Claws email is available for Windows and Linux.
Features of Claws Mail
- Secured email client with SSL and GPG support
- Search and filtering
- Customizable toolbar and themes support
- Templates and plug-in
- Support for a PDF viewer, HTML, Calendar, Anti-spam filtering using plug-ins
How to Download
All download options for Windows and Linux are available in the link below via the official website.
5. SeaMonkey
SeaMonkey is a free and open-source internet suite, and SeaMonkey mail is a component of the same. It keeps the traditional looks of an email client and is available in Windows, Linux and Mac. SeaMonkey mail shares code from Mozilla Thunderbird.
Here are some of its features.
Features of SeaMonkey
- Multiple email account support
- Junk email detection
- HTML support in email messages
- Message filters
- Address books
How to download
Download SeaMonkey via the below link via the official website.
Summary
While wrapping up the best email clients for Linux, I would recommend Thunderbird for complex work and enterprise-wide deployment, if needed, along with casual users. However, you can still try the other four as per your need and choice.
I purposefully did not include several below email clients in this article due to ‘not-so-good’ user feedback; some are ‘not free’.
- Sylpheed
- Zimbra
- Mutt
- Mailspring
- Hiri (paid)
So, what are the best email clients for Linux? Let me know in the comment box below.
